The Importance of Protein

Working out and getting daily exercise is really important for your cardiovascular health, for your muscles size and strength, and for your overall fitness level. The thing is that working out alone will never build those big Hulk Hogan muscles that you want. Sure, you will get big, but you will never get really ripped unless you have a good diet. When it comes to working out and building muscles, protein is the number one most important thing that you need to eat in order to get the results that you want to see.

Why Is Protein Important?

Protein is used for very many different things in the human body, and perhaps the most important thing to know is that the human body does not have any way of storing protein, and that means that you need to have a protein rich diet in order to get the amounts that your body needs. Something else that should be noted is that protein is classified as a macronutrient, and that means that your body needs a lot of it to function.

Protein is important for many different things, and your body needs it to function, to grow, and to be healthy too. Protein is used by your body to make your finger nails, toe nails, and your hair as well. Without enough protein, these things won’t grow as fast or as strong as they should. When it comes to exercising, protein is very important because it is used to build and maintain healthy muscles. When you exercise your muscles they develop little rips and tears, these are the tears that will then heal and cause your muscles to grow, but without the required amounts of protein in your body, your muscles will actually degrade instead of grow.

Protein is also really important for you because the human body needs lots of protein to produce a variety of different hormones, enzymes, and other bodily chemicals, all of which are important for maintaining a healthy body. Moreover, protein makes up one of the base building blocks for everything from skin and bones, blood cells, tendons and ligaments, and of course your muscles as well.

The Benefits of a Protein Rich Diet

As mentioned above, protein has very many functions in the human body, and thus getting enough of it on a daily basis is essential to your health. Having enough protein in your body has a number of other benefits as well. These benefits include things like a reduced recovery time after every workout, the reduction of muscle loss, the building of lean muscle and muscle building overall, helping to maintain a healthy weight. There is another big benefit to getting enough protein as well, and that is the reduction of hunger; having enough protein in your system means being hungry less often, and that translates into greater weight loss.

When Should I Eat Protein and How much Do I Need?

For an average fully-grown male, the amount of protein that you need every day is roughly 100 grams. Now, if you are a woman, or are slightly smaller than your average male, then you may require as little as 80 grams of protein per day. On the other hand, if you are larger than the average male, or if you are exercising like a beast and wish get muscles like Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, then you may require as much as 150 grams of protein per day.

As for the timing, you should try to space out your protein intake evenly throughout the day. That being said, if you are into exercising a lot, then you should always aim to ingest at least 20 percent of your daily protein requirements no more than 1 hour after exercising. For example, if you require 100 grams of protein per day, you should eat a meal with at least 20 grams of protein about 30 minutes after doing your weight lifting.

What Contains Protein?

Ok, so you need protein, but what should you eat to get it? The answer is simple; leafy greens, soy, whey, nuts, red meats, chicken, fish, and dairy products are all fantastic sources of protein for your body.